When running an online store, every detail matters in creating a seamless, optimized, and accessible shopping experience. This includes the way you handle images. As a digital agency specializing in Shopify development, revenue optimization, and retention marketing, Wiredigital understands that small optimizations can lead to significant results.
One crucial aspect of website optimization that many businesses overlook is the proper management of image file names and alt text. In this guide, we'll walk you through the importance of file names, the role alt text plays, and how optimizing image sizes can directly impact your Shopify store's performance, especially in terms of Core Web Vitals.
The Importance of File Names in Shopify
Before uploading any image to your Shopify store, think about the file name. A descriptive and keyword-rich file name can improve your website’s SEO (Search Engine Optimization), which in turn helps drive organic traffic.
Why Does It Matter?
SEO Boost: Search engines like Google crawl your website and consider image file names when indexing your pages. Descriptive names that include relevant keywords help search engines understand the content of your images and the context in which they appear.
User Accessibility: File names can also contribute to your website’s accessibility, as screen readers sometimes use file names when alt text is missing.
Best Practices:
Use clear, descriptive names (e.g., "blue-women-summer-dress.jpg" instead of "IMG_12345.jpg").
Include relevant keywords naturally, but avoid keyword stuffing.
Use hyphens (-) instead of underscores (_) to separate words in file names.
The Role of Alt Text in Shopify
Alt text, or alternative text, is the description of an image that helps search engines and visually impaired users understand what an image represents. Shopify allows you to add alt text when uploading images, but this step is often overlooked.
What Does Alt Text Do?
Accessibility: Alt text makes your website more accessible to visually impaired users who rely on screen readers. It describes the image content, making your site more inclusive.
SEO Impact: Just like file names, alt text provides additional context for search engines, which can enhance your page ranking in image search results.
Backup Display: If an image fails to load, the alt text will appear in its place, providing some context to users and preventing a broken layout.
How to Add Alt Text in Shopify:
While uploading an image in Shopify, you’ll see an option to add “Alt text.” Be descriptive and relevant to the context of the image.
Example: For an image of a blue women’s summer dress, use alt text like “Blue women’s summer dress with floral patterns.”
How to Change File Names After Uploading in Shopify
With Shopify's updated file management system, you can easily change file names directly from the dashboard without needing to re-upload the file. Here's how:
Go to your Shopify Admin Dashboard.
Navigate to the sidebar and click on Content, then select Files.
Locate the file you want to rename and click on it.
In the information box, you'll see the option to edit the file name. Simply enter the new, descriptive file name.
Save the changes, and Shopify will update the file name.
This process is straightforward and ensures you can manage your file names efficiently without needing to download or re-upload images, saving time and effort.
Detecting Missing Alt Text on a Page
Having alt text in place is critical for both SEO and accessibility, but how do you detect whether some images are missing alt text on a page?
Methods to Check:
Shopify Apps: There are several apps available in the Shopify app store that can scan your store and notify you of missing alt text.
Manual Check: If you’re managing a small site, you can manually check each image’s alt text by right-clicking on an image and selecting "Inspect." In the HTML code, you should see the alt attribute and its value.
For larger stores, it's recommended to automate the process through apps or third-party SEO tools that can generate comprehensive reports on your store’s SEO health.
Why It’s Important to Have This Set Up from the Start
Setting up proper file names and alt text right from the beginning of your store's development can save you time and headaches down the line. Retrofitting these elements can be labor-intensive, especially for stores with hundreds of products and images.
Key Benefits:
SEO Optimization: The sooner you optimize file names and alt text, the sooner search engines can index your images correctly, giving your SEO efforts a head start.
User Experience: From the beginning, you're ensuring that all users, including those with visual impairments, can easily navigate your site.
Business Costs: If you don’t have a system in place early on, you might end up redoing work as your store grows, costing you both time and resources.
The Importance of File Size
Large image files can slow down your Shopify store, leading to longer load times, higher bounce rates, and reduced conversion rates. Optimizing image file size is essential for both user experience and the overall performance of your site.
Impact on Core Web Vitals:
Core Web Vitals are a set of metrics introduced by Google to measure the performance and user experience of your website. Two of the most important metrics affected by file size are:
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): This measures how long it takes for the largest content element, often an image, to load. Large file sizes can significantly delay this metric.
First Input Delay (FID): A large file size can delay the time it takes for users to interact with your site, affecting this metric.
Google uses these metrics to determine rankings, so reducing file sizes is not just about user experience; it also impacts your SEO.
How to Optimize Image Sizes for Shopify
To optimize image file sizes without sacrificing quality, follow these tips:
Use the Right Format: For images with a lot of detail or color (like photos), use JPEG format. For simple graphics or images with transparency, use PNG. For animations, opt for GIF or WebP.
Compress Images: Use image compression tools like TinyPNG or Shopify apps that compress images without losing quality.
Set Appropriate Dimensions: Resize images to the exact dimensions required for your store. Uploading unnecessarily large images only bloats the file size.
Leverage Lazy Loading: Lazy loading ensures that images only load when they are about to appear on the user’s screen, improving load times for your store.
Final Thoughts: Why Optimizing File Names, Alt Text, and File Size Matters
Optimizing file names, alt text, and file sizes are small yet crucial steps in creating a fast, accessible, and search-friendly Shopify store. These elements not only improve your store's SEO but also enhance user experience, contributing to better performance metrics like Core Web Vitals. Whether you’re launching a new store or revamping an existing one, setting up these optimizations early ensures that your Shopify site is poised for growth and success.
If you need help with your Shopify store's development or want expert assistance with revenue optimization and retention marketing, Wiredigital is here to help you scale smarter!
